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Yvonne Audette

Born 1932

Biography:

Audette’s meditative approach to painting is enriched by musical and calligraphic qualities apparent in her rhythmic and melodic application of brush strokes that are layered and structured as if to create a symphony or a cantata. She says of her style: “It's like music. It starts to all vibrate and become a symphony.” Audette’s early credentials are exemplary. She studied art under Henry Gibbons, John Passmore and Geoffrey Miller and modelled for photographers Max Dupain and David Moore before setting sail for America at 22. She was energised by the new abstract expressionism there, meeting and mixing with the legendary new wave painters of the time, including Mark Rothko, Louise Nevelson and Lee Krasner. While studying in New York she visited Willem de Kooning’s studio and was enamoured with his Women series and its confronting chaos. Enthused by what she saw, she sank her “whole heart and mind into becoming an abstract artist” and in 1955 travelled to Europe to see what was happening in the genre there. Amongst other things, she became fascinated by graffiti art on the old walls around Rome - scratches and marks with the ghost of a line coming through hundreds of years on. Audette is one of Australia’s leading abstract artists. She has maintained an integrity throughout her career with a disciplined use of colour, form, technique and a thorough understanding of her chosen medium.